Duke Medical Alumni Association Honors Nine
The Duke Medical Alumni Association will recognize nine distinguished alumni, faculty and friends during Medical Alumni Weekend Nov. 2-5.The Medical Alumni Association includes all former students, house staff and current faculty of the medical center.This year's honorees are:Distinguished Faculty: Dr. John Alexander Bartlett and Nell Beatty Cant.
Bartlett, House Staff (HS) 1981-87, an associate professor of medicine and director of the Duke Adult Infectious Diseases Clinic, is a leading national figure in AIDS research and public policy and principal investigator of the Duke Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Unit. He also has been recognized by Duke students and residents for his teaching and mentoring skills.Cant, an associate professor of neurobiology, is a two-time recipient of the Duke Golden Apple Teaching Award. Cant's research on neuroanatomy and the development of the auditory pathways has been published extensively, and she has been the recipient of U.S. Public Health Service grant support for a quarter century.
Distinguished Alumnus: Dr. Donald Craig Brater, Dr. Eng M. Tan and Dr. Robert Sanders Williams.
Brater, Trinity (T) 1967, MD 1971, HS 1970-71, was named dean of the Indiana University School of Medicine this past summer. Brater served as chairman of medicine at IU for the past decade and is a distinguished physician and clinical pharmacologist.Tan, HS 1956-57, a professor and head of the Autoimmune Disease Center at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., is known as the founder of the field of autoimmune disease diagnosis. Tan's work on lupus, scleroderma, and related degenerative disorders advanced the understanding of the molecular and cellular biology of autoantibodies and the underlying basis of autoimmune recognition.Williams, MD 1974, HS 1974, 1977-80, Faculty 1980-90, is a professor of internal medicine and molecular biology and chief of cardiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He leads one of the most respected basic and clinical research programs in the United States and holds several patents for his work.
Honorary Alumnus: Edward H. Benenson.
Benenson, T 1934, is a Duke benefactor whose influence and position as a leading New York businessman helped win friends for the institution, both in New York and Palm Beach. Benenson recently contributed $1 million to the new McGovern-Davison Children's Health Center.
Distinguished Service: Glenn A. Kiser.
Kiser, T 1941, MD 1941, HS 1946-48, is a retired pediatrician, investor and leading North Carolina philanthropist who, as a Duke resident, worked closely with the late Dr. Jay Morris Arena to develop the concept for childproof safety caps. Kiser is a university and DUMC benefactor for whom the welcome center of the new McGovern-Davison Children's Health Center is named.
Humanitarian: Dr. Charles Johnson.
Johnson, HS 1964-67, Faculty 1970-96, was Duke's first African-American faculty member. He is nationally prominent in medicine and has served as an advisor on aging and health issues facing African Americans at the university, state and national level. The former medical director of Lincoln Hospital in Durham, Johnson improved Duke's recruiting practices to attract top minority faculty, residents and students during his tenure on the medical school admissions committee.
W.G. Anlyan, MD, Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. Madison Stockton Spach.
Spach, T 1950, MD 1954, HS 1954-59, Faculty 1960-96, is an internationally renowned pediatric cardiology researcher whose research has focused on electrophysiology and the mechanisms underlying dysrhthmias. As chief of pediatric cardiology, Spach developed a training program for pediatric cardiology residents and fellows and trained many who went on to leadership roles in academic medicine.
"We are pleased to honor these individuals," said Ellen Luken, executive director of external relations and medical alumni affairs. "Through their personal and professional lives, they have helped fulfill Duke's mission of leadership in medical education, patient care and research."Hosting the awards presentation ceremony will be Dr. Ralph Snyderman, chancellor for health affairs; Dr. Robert L. Murrah, president of the Medical Alumni Association; Dr. Russel E. Kaufman, vice dean for education and academic affairs; Steven Rum, vice chancellor for medical center development and alumni affairs; and R.C. "Bucky" Waters, vice chancellor for special projects.